Albert Bandura's (1986, 1993, 1997) theory
of self-efficacy has important implications with regard to motivation
(See also Schunk, 1991, 1996). Bandura's basic principle is that
people are likely to engage in activities to the extent that they
perceive themselves to be competent at those activities. With
regard to education, this means that learners will be more likely to
attempt, to persevere, and to be successful at tasks at which they
have a sense of efficacy. When learners fail, this may occur because
they lack the skills to succeed or because they have the skills but
lack the sense of efficacy to use these skills well.

Bandura (1989) has identified factors that
are likely to reduce students' feelings of positive
self-efficacy:

lock-step sequences of instruction that
may cause some children to get lost along the way,

ability groupings that further diminish
the self-efficacy of those in lower ranks, and

competitive practices in which many
students are doomed to failure from the start.

Schunk (1989) has conducted experiments that
successfully applied self-efficacy principles to instruction in
language and mathematics skills. The lessons included strategies to
foster perceptions of self-efficacy by

helping learners set specific,
attainable goals;

modeling cognitive strategies that
include statements of self-efficacy;

helping the students focus feedback
on the successful application of effort to achieve useful
subskills;

supplying positive incentives;
and

encouraging students to verbalize
effective task strategies.

Bandura suggests that one of the most
important aspects of self-efficacy is the person's perception of
self-regulatory efficacy. In other words, students will learn
better if they believe that they are good at managing their thinking
strategies in a productive manner. (Self-regulation and the
management of other thinking strategies are discussed in chapter
7.)

While it is important to enhance the
self-efficacy of the learners themselves, self-efficacy theory also
has important implications for other agents in the instructional
process (Ashton, 1984; Ashton & Webb, 1986). For example, Gibson
and Dembo (1984) have found that teachers who have a high sense of
instructional efficacy devote more instructional time to academic
learning, give students more and better help when they need it, and
are more likely to praise students for their successful
accomplishments. Likewise, Woolfolk and Hoy (1990) have found that
teachers with a low sense of self-efficacy are likely to employ a set
of "custodial" strategies that focus on extrinsic inducements and
negative sanctions (which are likely to be ineffective), whereas
teachers with higher self-efficacy are more likely to employ
strategies that support their students' intrinsic motivation and
encourage the students to direct their own learning. Finally, Bandura
(1997) points out that different schools and departments are likely
to have varied perceptions of their collective self-efficacy. School
staff members who collectively judge themselves as having high
self-efficacy are likely to provide an environment that will promote
similar feelings and high levels of productivity among their
students.

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